He was known in his era as "the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be" but for many wrestling fans Bret Hart's legacy will forever be tarnished by the events of the 1997 Survivor Series which took place in his home country of Canada. Well according to a new documentary titled The Montreal Theory, Bret Hart not only knew about what was going to happen that night, but agreed and cooperated with Vince McMahon from start to finish. For those fans who don't actually know what The Montreal Screwjob is/was (shame on you) it is the name given to the final moments of Bret's WWF Championship match against "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels at 1997's Survivor Series PPV. The original plan - according to Bret - was for Michaels to get the upper hand only for Hart's fellow Hart Foundation members to run in and save him causing a disqualification loss that prevented him from losing the title in front of his home crowd. The next night on RAW Hart - who was leaving for bitter rivals World Championship Wrestling - would thank the fans for their years of support and then surrender the belt to Vince McMahon. What actually happened though was Michaels slapped on Hart's own Sharpshooter submission hold and Vince McMahon ordered the referee (Earl Hebner) to call for the bell and award Michaels the (highly tainted) victory. When the bell rang both Hart and Michaels stared in disbelief neither man giving anything away leaving the fans wondering what they had just witnessed. As time seemingly stood still the realisation hit that Bret had been screwed by Vince to prevent him leaving the WWF as its champion and the wrestling world was turned on its head. Needless to say Bret was pissed and he wasn't scared about showing it, smashing the Survivor Series set and spitting right in Vince's face. That is the accepted sequence of events that have never really been disputed except by a few conspiracy theorists who have largely been ignored. However in his documentary Joe Dombrowski suggests that the accepted order of events is the biggest work in wrestling history and that Bret was in on it all along. According to the film, the idea was to have Hart hung out to dry in Montreal which would allow him to go to WCW red hot as the man who Vince McMahon screwed while the fans of WWF programming would continue to tune in to their show to find out exactly what happened from their perspective. It would be a win win situation for all involved and set Hart up as the top Babyface in all of WCW. By that reckoning Hart's hideously mishandled run in Atlanta was a result of WCW's inability to capitalise on Hart's momentum although some suggest Owen Hart's death as the reason The Hitman lost his momentum post WWF/E. It is highly unlikely that The Montreal Theory is anything beyond fantasy as it seems very unlikely that someone would not have let it slip at some point in the 15 and a half years since the PPV. For the angle to work as well as it has one would have to assume Hart lied to his family about the events of Montreal because it would be too dangerous to business to let them all in on the lie. And why wait until Wrestlemania 26 to bring Bret back? Surely it made more sense to sign Hart years ago, unless of course it had something to do with his stroke? It is details like this that keep documentaries like this one from ever causing any real controversy in the wrestling world. However you slice this whole business you can't help but wonder can you? Did Bret really screw Bret like Vince always said he did? Was there really a screwjob in Montreal or was the biggest screw job in wrestling history planned meticulously behind closed doors? If that's the case then it was the fans and not Bret Hart who were the real fools that night in 1997 and we've continued to fall for WWE's lies hook, line and sinker every year since. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IGHBucy_gO0
So who do you think screwed who at Survivor Series back in 1997? Do you even care anymore? Sound off below or tweet us @WhatCulture using the hash tag #bretscrewedbret